Car-coupling



UNITED STATES` PATENT EEIcE.

GUEDEN Il. GHAMBERLIN, OE MARIETTA, oEIo.4

CAR-ConPLiNc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 2374,106, dated March2.0, 18.83.

i Application filed June 24, 1882. (No model.)

To all rwhom 'it may concern Beit known that I, GURDEN L. CHAMBER- LIN,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Marietta, in thecounty of Washington and Siate of Ohio, have invented a new and valuableImprovement in Car-Couplers; and I d0 hereby declare vthat the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the construction andoperation ot' the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making a part of this specification, and to the letters and tigures ot'reference marlIed thereon.

Figure l ot' the drawings is a bottom view of my coupler. Fig. 2 is aside view ot' the same. Fig. 3 is a front view, and Fig. 4 is a detailview of lever K.

This invention has relation to car-coupling devices; and it consists inthe construction and novel arrangement of parts, as will be h ereinafterfully described, 'and pointed out in the claims appended.

In the accompanying drawings, the letters A A designate the couplingdevices, which are duplicates of each other in all essentialparticulars. In each of these coupling devices B represents a bed-platesecured to the under side of the draw-bar or draw-head C by means of'bolts, clamps, or other sufficient fastening devices. The draw-heads mayhe those which are now in common use for the ordinary linkand-pinconnection, as the coupling devices herein described are so arranged asnot to interfere with the employment of the link-andpin coupling, sothat a car which is only provided with thelatter form of coupling can bereadily connected to a car having the automatic coupling.

D represents a bridge-plate, which is bolted to the bed-plate B. Pivotedto the rear portion, ot' this bridge-plate and somewhat'at one sidethereof are the long leverjaws E E, which are formed with beveledhook-shaped ends a, and are extended in rear of their pivots,asindicated at b. Between the ends of the extensions bis arranged aspring, c, which is designed to have an expanding tension, so that itvwill act to press the extensions or arms b of the levers apart, andthereby close the hooked ends or jaws a. ranged an elongated cam,d,the,sten1 of which is jonrnaled in a bearing in the bridge-tree. Thecam is provided with a transverse lever,

Between the levers E is arf.

F, the arms of which project laterallyT on each side of the couplingdevices and serve as handles, whereby the lever can be actuated to turnthe cam d, andtherehy press the coupling-jaws a apart. The stem of thecam d. is provided with a square arbor in order that it may be rigidlysecured to the lever F.

Grepresents a pivoted upright, the foot ot' which is connected to an armof the lever F by means of a link, e. The upright stem Gr may bearranged in convenient position to extend upward through the platform orfloor of the car., and should be provided at its Lipper end with an armor ihandle,f. whereby it may be turned to move the lever F and its cam(I. This uuconpling device can therefore be operated from the top aswell as from either 'side oi' the car.

H indicates a lever-arm extending parallel to the lever-jaws, beingpivoted also to the bridge-plate at the side of said jaws, as shown inthe drawings. rThis lever is provided with aloop, g, at its front end,said loop being rectangular in form, and having its front bar, h,rounded, so that it will' pass easily between the beveled hook-heads ot'the couplingj tws of an approaching car. The loop is arrangedvertically, andis ot' snfcient vertical span to provide for an easycoupling between cars ot` dii'erent heights. The loop arm or lever Hextends back of its pivotal point, asindicated at i, and this rear armor extension is connect` ed to the bridge-plate or a bearingthereon by avertical spring, j, the object of this springconnection being to allowtheloop-arm to play or yield when coupled and to hold it in line withthe jaws of an approaching car when about to be coupled therewith. Thecoupling devices are thus arranged to accommodate themselves to themotion oi' the cars.

l designates a. slide,*which moves back and forth on abearing, lc, ofthebridge-plate, and is connected to the lever F by a pivot-pin. This slideis formed with notches or depressions u, and is designed to engage theouter end of a spring-arm, l, which carries the lateral stops m,consisting of two pins which extend through openings a in thebridge-plate. The springarm l is designed to be held up by the `slide Iwhen the cars are coupled, and in this position the lateral stops areretracted, so that the loop-arm, on each side of which they are ar- IOOcoupling one'of the notches or depressions n isA brought under thespring-arm, allowing it to move downward, s0 that its stops m are pro-yvjeeted through the bridge-plate on each side of the loop-arm and serveto hold it steady, therehy preventing the loop from hanging to eitherofthe hook-heads of the coupling-jaws.

In order to hold the jaws open a sufficient time to eftectvacompletedisengagement ot' the loop, a spring-catch, K, is provided. This ispivoted to an arm, p, of the bed-plate and extends forward under thetransverse lever F, which it engages by means ot' the catch-lug q on itsupper edge when said lever is moved sufciently to open thejaws.

L L designate the bumper-rods, which extend from front to rear over thecoupling-jaws and coupling-loop, and slide in bearings r, which areconnected tothe bed-plate, usually, as shown in the drawings. The frontends ot' these slide-rods project a little farther forward than thecouplingjaws and loop, and are provided with disk-heads s otl sufficientdiameter to insure engagement with the slide-rods of an approaching car.These rods are also provided with springs t, which are respectivelyarranged between a slide-bearing, r, and a collar-bearing, b/of eachrod, and serve to provide for an elastic reaction, replacing the rod inits for ward position when relieved from the pressure lholding it back.The rod L is also provided with a globular enlargement or ball-collar,n, which, when said rod is pressed backward, is designed to engage a lugor swell, z', on the spring-catch K, depressing said catch anddi'sengaging it from the transverse lever F. These devices are alwaysready for action and are automatic in the coupling operation. If thecoupling-jaws should be set open by the action of the spring-catch, adisengagement thereof' will bev at once effected when the bumper-rodsare pushed back as the cars come together.

Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1V. In an automatic car-coupling, the transverse cam-lever F,spring-.catch K. and sliding bumper-rod L, having a replacing-spring, t,

and an enlargement, c, to depress the springcatch, substantially asspecied.

2. In an automatic car-coupling, the combination, with the loop-arm Hand the lateral stop-spring l, of the bridge-plate having theperforations aand the slide-bearing k, the

check-slide I, and the transverse cam-lever F,l

substantially as specified.

3. In an automatic car-coupling, the combination, with the lever-jaws Eand the loop-arm H, .of the humper-rods L L and springs t, theopening-cam d and cam-lever F, the springcloser c, the spring-catch K,and the depressing or disengaging device lfor said springcatch,substantially as specified.

1n testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my namein the presence of two witnesses.

GURDEN L. UHAMBERLIN. Witnesses:

JOSEPH PHiLo HULBERT, THOMAS ROUTLEDGE SHEPPARD.

